Four Entrepreneur Types

Andrew Wilkinson shares his perspective on entrepreneurial archetypes and their roles in business development, using Chipotle as an example to illustrate different approaches to business building.

• Four Types of Entrepreneurs:

  • Innovators: The original creators who develop the initial concept (like the person who first rolled a burrito)
  • Remixers: Those who package and brand existing concepts (like creating Chipotle around the burrito concept)
  • Scalers: People who grow businesses to significant size (expanding to 100+ locations)
  • Optimizers: Those who maintain and maximize existing operations

• Personal Business Philosophy:

  • Identifies himself as primarily a scaler
  • Prefers "boring" but undisruptible businesses
  • Focuses on 5-year business cycles
  • Seeks to avoid working hard or making significant changes to business DNA
  • Prefers finding already-working businesses rather than modifying them

• Views on Business Acquisition:

  • Favors buying businesses at 5-10x earnings
  • Acknowledges businesses at this valuation are often "crappy"
  • Prefers to:
    • Leave existing businesses largely unchanged
    • Only make minimal interventions like CEO replacement
    • Avoid major operational changes

• Perspective on Business Impact:

  • Values businesses that:
    • Create stable employment
    • Provide better opportunities for workers
    • Maintain job security through global operations
  • Questions entrepreneurs' motivations and what they do with success